Hubble Solves Mystery on Source of Supernova in Nearby Galaxy

January 11, 2012: Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have solved a
longstanding mystery on the type of star, or so-called progenitor,
that caused a supernova in a nearby galaxy. The finding
yields new observational data for pinpointing one
of several scenarios that could trigger such outbursts.

Based on previous observations from ground-based telescopes, astronomers knew that a kind of supernova called a Type Ia created a remnant named SNR 0509-67.5, which lies 170,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The type of system that leads to this kind of supernova explosion has long been a high importance problem with various proposed solutions but no decisive answer. All these solutions involve a white dwarf star that somehow increases in mass to the highest limit. Astronomers failed to find any companion star near the center of the remnant, and this rules out all but one solution, so the only remaining possibility is that this one Type Ia supernova came from a pair of white dwarfs in close orbit.